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Rating: For the Wilson sisters, 1980 is a year of transition. We left them two years earlier with their ballads and rock pieces stamped with Led Zeppelin style, and now we find them with different sounds, dangerously flirting with the edgy tones of the punk explosion.
The girls are still in great form: Ann’s voice is always magnificent and astonishing, and Nancy’s arpeggios rock like never before. The marked difference is in the band’s lineup, which is completely overhauled, because the Fishers leave the band when their engagement with the sisters ends. Thus, for the first time, guitarist Howard Leese is alongside Nancy, who gradually becomes the historic axeman that will accompany the girls over time through various records and lineup changes.
The elves, caravans, fairytale landscapes, and crystal spheres of the epoch-making Little Queen are therefore abandoned to make way for the aggressiveness of a 1980 as transgressive as ever. This is already noticeable from the cover: the sisters' look is completely changed, with curly and voluminous perms instead of long, straight, hippie hair.
"Bebe Le Strange" is therefore a typical transition album, in some ways strange, as if the musicians themselves didn’t know whether to continue on their own path or completely shift towards a different direction. The classically rock verses are accompanied by faster and more brutal refrains, even though the Jimmy Page-like passages and Robert Plant-like vocals are still present. After all, Nancy and Ann will never manage to abandon these influences, which had inspired them so much at the start of their career.
New extensions on the old sounds are experimented with, and the title track itself is the most clear proof: the verses of "Bebe Le Strange" recall a nostalgic Seventies style, while the chorus is stylized with more modern prototypes, and it is precisely this contrast so fascinating that makes the song very good, and the album captivating.
The album therefore presents sudden style changes: from the mellotron of the sweet and engaging "Down On Me" to the aggressive ultimate punk song "Break", passing through a classical acoustic guitar in "Silver Wheels". The work of singer Ann in these pieces is truly amazing: her ability to navigate the highest notes leaves one speechless.
With fervor, the album continues, and energetic can be defined "Rockin' Heaven Down", whose themes take up the life on the road, and the pounding chorus of "Even It Up", where Nancy improvises as a lead guitarist delivering a scream-worthy solo.
Even tribal drum sounds continue in the surreal "Strange Night", while the dreamlike "Raised On You" and "Pilot" are once again excellently passed tests. The choice of closure is also bizarre, a very sweet "Sweet Darlin'", an emotional and poignant ballad that one would not expect as the conclusion of a super-energetic album.
"Bebe Le Strange" is therefore a very varied album, perfect to listen to in moments when one is not clearly thinking of a preferred genre, as it can satisfy all requests. Aahhh, if changes were always like this!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Bebe Le Strange (03:40)
Bebe Le Strange
ALBUM � Bebe Le Strange (1980)
It's got to be you reading my letter
Not your hired hand
I don't know how to say it no better
I love you and the band
Never heard rockin� like you could
Howling like you can
It gets me thinking of johnny b. goode
But you know you ain't no man
When I heard you play I knew your
Name should be changed
We're all dog panicked and you are to blame
Everybody ought to call you
Bebe le strange
You look so insane
We gave you a name
Bebe le strange
I wish I knew what you're really like
A touch so shy and fine
But the way you move with that guitar
Just gives me other signs
Here's my number give me a sign
Call me back if this gets through
Bebe, bebe, bebe, bebe
I'd never say no to you
When I heard your song I knew your
Name should be changed
Everybody ought to call you
Bebe le strange
Under my skin you've got my mind
Rearranged
You're so insane
Bebe�s so strange
Bebe le strange
04 Break (02:34)
The dust is gathering where I stand
Now I know there's a crack in this plan
After a while there just ain't no more
magic, man
I got a need
I got to know
Give me the truth who is running my show
Tell them I'm sorry but I just had to go
My patience ran out
I gotta run
Out of a habit that used to be fun
I just wanna break
Shake it, shake it, shake it off
Take off, break it off
Break, break
Break me outta here
You know what it's about
Let me out, get me out
Break
I go no more respect for the big man
Pulling me down to what he understands
He can't get his mind around no bigger plans
No one is going to tie me to this machine
Giving me formula force fed dreams
Getting more hold on me than it seems
My patience ran out
I gotta run
Out of a habit
That used to be fun
I just gotta break
Shake it, shake it, shake it off
Take off, break it off
Break, break
Break me out of here
You know what it's about
Let me out, get me out
Break
06 Even It Up (05:10)
I am the one who can please you
Ain't that what you said
You seemed so alone
I guess I was easily led
I showed you my love
And babe, I guess that went to your head
When you were hungry
I brought you your breakfast in bed
Come on, even it up, even it up, even it up
Come on, even it up, even it up, even it up
Well, a good man pays his debt
But you ain't paid yours yet
Come on, even it
It's time to even it, even it up
I took you down over the tracks when
you wanted some sin
I brought you satin and herbs from
the places I been
Well, now something tells me you're
going to use me again
You think you can lay down the how and
the where and the when
You think you can
I tell you, even it up, even it up, even it up
Oh well, even it up, even it up, even it up
I don't want to bum it all
No, but this ax, she got to fall
Even it, come on, even it , even it up, baby
10 Sweet Darlin' (03:17)
Sweet Darlin�
ALBUM � Bebe Le Strange (1980)
Sweet darlin�
You saved me
I'm hummin�
From the lovin�
You gave me
You went so far
Where my feelings are
Breathing heaven fire
Sweet darlin�
I know you
You stopped running
You knew I had something
To show you
The fever tamed
Like an angel came
Made music of my name
Sweet darlin�
Early that morning we knew I had to fly
Engines were screaming and still I was asking myself why
High on the wind I was feeling my sweet darlin� cry
My heart was breaking
I closed my eyes
Darlin�
Can you hear me
We can't be wrong
The night�s song
Pulls you near me
Time just falls
Distance small
I feel you all
Sweet darlin�
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